Searching For Disaster
by oliver.clearwater
Summary: All Shikamaru has ever known is being tired. Choji's about to give him a wake-up call that will leave Shikamaru questioning his life, and the concept of love. ShikaCho. Implied SasuNaru. Re-posted. T1100P1.


**Searching For Disaster**

If Shikamaru wasn't sleeping, he was thinking about sleep. And when Shikamaru wasn't thinking about sleep, he was sleeping. So maybe he was lazy, but that was too loose a word to use for him; it wasn't just that he'd slack off on school duties, or 'forget' to do his homework; life had lost meaning. The scary part, however, was that he was strangely at ease with the idea of life ending as it was now, and when he truly came to think of the subject, it horrified him to no end.

"Get up, you slacker!" Called the piercing voice of Naruto Uzumaki, accompanied by a rough shake on the shoulder. Shikamaru peeled one eye open to see that his Geography class had dispersed, leaving only he and his bright eyed classmate Naruto left in the dimly lit room. Silently, Shikamaru wondered when exactly he had fallen asleep; the last thing he remembered before falling unconscious was writing an angry makeshift journal entry in his notebook so the teacher would believe he was actually doing something productive. "Class is over!"

Shikamaru rolled his open eye, peeling himself off of the desk and wiping sleep from his heavy eyes. When he glanced up, he noticed that his annoying classmate was casting him an interrogative stare; Shikamaru guessed the oafish blonde was dumbfounded by his apathy; after all, they'd only begun conversing recently, giving Naruto little time to learn about Shikamaru's cynically apathetic look on life. But, to appease the blonde who was increasingly growing more concerned by the lack of sound between them, Shikamaru barked, "I can see that, dumbass; I was just resting my eyes. Do you have to be so loud?"

Realization settled in the blonde's bright eyes, and he cracked a smile, as if he'd gotten deeper meaning out of Shikamaru's retort. Maybe he had. But before Shikamaru could assess what was going through Naruto's big empty head, the blonde shuffled his feet anxiously, glancing at the clock. "Hey, I'll catch you later, kay? I've gotta go catch my ride home."

Disappointed, Shikamaru nodded, casting a sheepish smile at the Uzumaki. "Yeah, see ya."

When Shikamaru was sure that Naruto had departed, he promptly slumped back onto his desk, weighing his options silently in his head. He could head home, only to be bombarded with more responsibilities that he clearly didn't feel up to today, he could remain in school until as late as possible and risk being lectured by teachers, or, he could wander around town until he was sure his parents had gone to work, before returning home. None of the ideas seemed very satisfying, but avoiding the problem altogether seemed the most desirable.

So, upon making his decision, Shikamaru collected himself, and headed out the classroom, only to bump into another student who looked absolutely livid at the idea of being touched by Shikamaru, as if he'd catch something from the contact. His voice began to build in his throat, and Shikamaru searched frantically for an insult he could bark, as to throw off the bully, but upon further inspection he realized he knew the guy, and what's more, Shikamaru could see the realization in the boy's eyes; he had recognized Shikamaru too.

But just as suddenly as they had collided and locked each other in one another's hateful stares, they parted, neither apologizing nor complaining. Shikamaru was too tired to care, he just wanted to be left alone, and if he got involved in a conflict, he'd have to deal with a screaming guy who would just slug the lethargic Nara and go on his way.

Out of the way... Thanks to the brief body check from his classmate, Shikamaru had a vague idea of how he wanted to spend his afternoon. Allowing a slight smile to grace his lips, Shikamaru promptly headed for the stairwell, ascending.

-x-

Choji's afternoon looked grim. After a mind-numbing 45 minute Geography class, the only thing on his agenda was training. For the wrestling competition, that is. And though nothing made his father more proud than to see his son throwing his opponents to the ground, Choji could honestly say he hated it.

Just by genetics, Choji wasn't built small; nothing about him was small. So, needless to say, he'd always had weight problems throughout his childhood, as well as many sleepless nights thinking about the ridicule he received from physically fit children. And, to make matters worse, his father had enrolled him in the school's wrestling team; so now, instead of steadily losing weight as he had been trying before, he was told he needed to stop his radical diet--the coach even went as far as to tell him that for his weight class he wasn't heavy enough and that he needed to gain more!

And just so his father wouldn't be disappointed in his son, just so Choji could see his father's eyes light up with pride, just so he had some meaning in life, Choji went along with it. And he hated every second of it.

Lucky him, he was headed straight to wrestling training, where he would be given a pep talk about gaining weight, followed by foul smelling energy-boosting drinks and skin-to-skin contact with a boy far superior to himself, until one of them were pushed and pinned to the ground. Lovely.

When Choji arrived at the gym, the previous physical education class was clearing out, each student covered in sweat and panting frantically. As he entered the double doors, he noticed that one of the students was still trotting around the court, dribbling a basketball beneath his palm. Though Choji had no classes with the talented boy, he knew who he was; everyone knew him. Uchiha Sasuke, younger brother of the brilliant Itachi Uchiha, both of whom had a passion for sports. While Itachi had been the all star player on the soccer team, Sasuke had picked up the basketball.

"Are you just going to stand there are stare at me all day?" Asked the Uchiha, who had come to a stop, balancing the basketball at his hip. "If I thought I was going to have an audience, I would've sold tickets."

Taking the hint, Choji averted his eyes and moved onto the locker room, which he found oddly empty. Dropping his bag, Choji passed his team mates' lockers, inspecting. Each and every one of them still contained their ugly spandex uniforms and filthy sweatbands of their own personal choice of color. So, at least he knew they hadn't gone off to some tournament or something and left him behind; Mr. Maito was always sure to make sure he and his team mates were all squeezed into their ugly uniforms before ever leaving school grounds; maybe it was because he himself was partial to his own green spandex that he wore regularly.

"Hey, you're on the wrestling team, right?" Came the voice of Uchiha Sasuke, who was standing in the doorway, looking mildly irritated that he'd had to seek out Choji in the locker room. Choji nodded, watching the Uchiha's dark eyes roll in their sockets, unamused. "You obviously don't listen to the sports announcements, do you?"

Feeling slightly offended, but not so much so that he'd want to cause a conflict, Choji shook his head. "Not really; my Chem notes seemed a little more important."

"Yeah well, the wrestling team's practice was cancelled today." Sasuke informed him with an unwavering sense of superiority, as if this knowledge was giving him the upper hand in a game that Choji wasn't aware he was playing. "That transfer student Gaara broke the teacher's pet's arm this morning, so Gai's been at the hospital with him all afternoon."

Choji's eyes widened in surprise; Lee certainly wasn't weak, so the thought of someone breaking his arm was surprisingly frightening. "Oh. Well, thanks for telling me." Was all Choji could get out under the careful gaze of the Uchiha.

And just as quickly as he had come in, Choji recollected his belongings and made his way towards the door, but Sasuke caught him before he could leave, grabbing the back of his shirt. "Hey, why are you on the wrestling team, anyway?" Choji opened his mouth to answer, but Sasuke hadn't finished. "I've seen you practice and I know you hate it."

Unconsciously, Choji's teeth raked themselves along his bottom lip, searching desperately for a way of getting out of the situation. When he focused on Sasuke, he noticed that the Uchiha was examining him with the same curiosity, the same interest. And before he could stop himself, Choji demanded, "You used to play soccer just like your brother, but then you quit all of a sudden. So why did you choose to join the basketball team?"

The question lasted only a few moments in the open air before Sasuke said calmly, "Because I'm not, and will never be, my brother."

Well damn, instead of pissing the Uchiha off as he had inadvertedly intended, Sasuke had countered with little hesitation and with less frustration as he had envisioned. "But you're still avoiding the question." When Choji gave no inclination that he was going to answer, Sasuke shrugged. "Hey, it was for your sake, not mine. Until you can answer that honestly for yourself, you'll always hate wrestling."

Choji glared at the Uchiha, frustrated. But in truth, he was more frustrated with himself than Sasuke because he knew the answer; he just didn't want to admit it. "Why do you care anyway? I mean, last I checked you treated everyone like shit and only cared about yourself, and being better than your brother."

Sasuke smiled in a lazy manner, as if quietly amused by the increasingly frustrated Akimichi. "Because someone taught me that I should care."

Before Choji could question Sasuke any further, a blonde boy came bouncing into the locker room, grinning from ear to ear, though Choji could see that he was clearly attempting to scowl. "You kept me waiting, you jackass; are you ready to go home?"

Sasuke's eyes skimmed over the blonde, as if cherishing every inch he could see. "Aren't you the one getting here late? Dumbass."

"Yeah, well..." The blonde's voice trailed off, looking about the room for a change of subject. When his eyes fell on Choji, he'd clearly found one. "Who's this? Friend of yours?"

But Choji wasn't around to hear Sasuke's reply; he'd already made it out the door.

The thoughts that Sasuke had stirred up in his mind were still fresh, and Choji hated every bit of it; what did it matter that he hated wrestling and was only doing it for his father's acceptance? Did he even need a reason to be wrestling besides just for the sake of doing it?

As he headed for the stairwell, he was caught off guard as he collided with a student exiting one of the classrooms, which just added onto the list of bad things that had happened to him that day. When he caught the eyes of the boy he had collided with, he realized that he was scowling, and what's more, Choji could feel his own face scowling, though he hadn't intended to do so.

Upon examining the scowling young man, he realized that he knew him; Shikamaru something. But before he could apologize for bumping into the classmate he'd never once spoken to before, Shikamaru bolted, heading for the stairs.

Choji frowned, watching his classmate run up the stairs in a desperate act to get away, and he would've thought nothing more of it...but that was when Choji noticed the notebook on the desk that Shikamaru sat in during Geography class.

-x-

Shikamaru sighed in relief as he found that the door that led to the roof was left unlocked. Upon slipping out through the door, Shikamaru noticed that the sky was an ugly gray, threatening to open and cover the world in moisture; well, at least he wouldn't have to hear someone yelling at him; instead he chose to listen to the quiet rumbling of thunder. Dropping down into a sitting position, Shikamaru hugged his knees, closing his eyes and begging sleep to overcome him.

Though, he doubted he could sleep anyway; his mind was too filled with the events of the day, and what would happen later when he returned home late. It just wasn't a good day; he'd been tired all day, whether it had been tired of doing school work, tired of listening to the teacher's lecture, tired of being awake, he had been tired.

Now beginning to feel unnerved, Shikamaru climbed to his feet, padding sluggishly towards the edge of the roof. Upon further inspection, Shikamaru noted that it was quite a long fall if he were to jump. But at the same time, calculating the height of the school building and the amount of air resist he would have while falling, he decided that if he were to jump, he would leave the scene with a few broken bones, and probably a one-way-ticket to a mental institution.

Through the whistling wind and rumbling thunder, Shikamaru hadn't heard the stairwell door open, nor the frantic footsteps that followed.

Arms enveloped his waist, and his captor threw both of them to the ground, holding fast. The close proximity and warmth had brought burning emotion to Shikamaru's face as he struggled to get out of those strong, persistent hands.

"Stop, you can't!"

Shikamaru froze. He knew that voice. He'd heard it numerous times in class, and luckily for him, he could associate the voice to a face, and that face to a name. "Ch-Choji?"

"If you need a friend, I'm here for you!" Choji's voice was choked with emotion, but it came out as a desperate yell that rang violently in Shikamaru's ears. "I don't care if you sleep all the time or you get bad grades even though you're really smart, and I'd even call you to talk to you on the phone so that you wouldn't feel so lonely at home!"

Those words sounded so familiar, but the last time he had heard them...they had been coming from himself... A single word crossed Shikamaru's mind: Fuck... "So you read my little emo thoughts from Geography, big whoop. Now get off me, you jackass; I don't have time for this."

Choji paused, and Shikamaru could feel that his previously ragged breathing had calmed into a gentle breath that touched the back of his neck every so often, sending chills running down his spine. "So...you like that Naruto guy, huh?"

"Fuck you." Shikamaru growled, struggling in Choji's grip, though to no avail; Choji's iron grip hadn't let up in the least bit. Shikamaru had made progress though; he had successfully turned completely around, which allowed him to see his attacker full-on for the first time since he'd been thrown to the ground. "Just because you read some shit I wrote down, you think you know me?"

"No. I hear Sasuke talk about you all the time to his team mates." Choji countered, his gaze easy.

A practiced glare made its way to Shikamaru's featured. "Is that supposed to make me feel better? That Sasuke fucking Uchiha talks about me to all his little friends, and you're obsessed with me so much that you would eavesdrop on his conversations about me and look through my notebooks?"

Choji didn't flinch like Shikamaru had hoped, in fact, he remained completely under control of his emotions. "It's not exactly eavesdropping when they're speaking loud enough that you would imagine they were talking to the entire locker room. And I think it's my business who I take an interest in."

The word interest brought heat burning to Shikamaru's cheeks, and he was forced to avert his eyes to avoid his face changing another shade of pink. "It's my business too if I'm involved..."

A wicked smile graced Choji's lips and he laughed lightly to himself; Shikamaru could feel it in every fiber of his body. "Well, if I'm interested in you, aren't you obligated to talk me out of it?"

Shikamaru's eyes uneasily met Choji's; searching for an answer to a question he was scared to ask.

And before he could protest, lips had descended on his own, capturing him in a timid, curious kiss. It was short and chaste, neither allowing the other to violate the sanctity of his virgin mouth. "You've got all the time in the world to convince me of what a bad boyfriend you can be."

Shikamaru glared, obviously not amused that a boy had just so much as pecked his lips; not that the cute little sensation was unpleasant. "Yeah well...if you think such a girlie kiss like that would win me over, you've got another thing coming..."

Choji smiled at his new found friend, laughing quietly as the Nara buried his face into Choji's chest, secretly smiling to himself. Maybe life wasn't so tiresome with someone like Choji.

"Hey, how long do you plan on spooning with me?" Shikamaru asked, his face still buried deep in Choji's chest. Truthfully, he didn't want Choji to let go, but his masculinity wouldn't allow himself to seem so soft.

"Just a little while longer." Choji assured, stroking Shikamaru's back.

-x-

Their meetings continued every day for weeks. Though Shikamaru always seemed reluctant, with Choji's careful coaxing, they usually got the same results. And on that morning, Shikamaru was having a particularly bad day.

As soon as Choji caught sight of Shikamaru, he noticed that there was an unusual lack of spring in Shikamaru's step, as if it was very tiresome for the Nara to make the trip across the roof to meet Choji. Cocking his head, Choji padded forward, reaching Shikamaru half way to see that Shikamaru's expression was grim.

"What's wrong?" Choji questioned, attempting the catch Shikamaru's eyes, though they seemed more desperate to avert than usual.

"N-Nothing." Was the hesitant response Choji was given, surprised when Shikamaru's arms wrapped about his waist, tucking his head beneath Choji's chin. The sudden closeness surprised Choji; usually he was the one who had to initiate anything, because Shikamaru gained a newfound shyness when it came to things like that; Choji found it adorable.

But just a show of intimacy wasn't going to sway Choji. His hand snaked up to Shikamaru's chin, lifting it upward to gain the Nara's full attention; at the action, Shikamaru lived up to his name; his expression very similar to that of deer's caught in the headlights of a fourteen-wheeler(1).

"Right now." Choji said sternly, glaring into Shikamaru's dark eyes. "Tell me what's wrong."

A clever eyebrow curled above Shikamaru's eyes in a spiteful smile. "Nothing. There's nothing wrong." And to prove his point, he (slightly reluctantly) leaned a fraction of an inch forward, erasing the space between he and Choji, and connecting their lips.

Deciding this was as good a chance as any, Choji took over; his hands grabbing Shikamaru by the shoulders and pinning him to the ground, dominating the Nara's tentative mouth with an enthusiastic tongue. At first, Shikamaru tensed, his body as rigid as a board as Choji began, but soon enough, he had relaxed into the kiss, even going as far as responding back with a curious passion.

When Choji pulled away, the breath they shared was rapid and unwanted; Shikamaru's eyes roamed Choji, unsure of what he wanted. "More?" Choji offered gently as he noticed Shikamaru's cloudy eyes tracing him, exploring him. After a moment of listening to Shikamaru breath, Choji noticed the tiny nod, and obeyed, reclaiming Shikamaru's mouth. The second time around, Shikamaru had gotten a second wind, and Choji was surprised by the passion and depth their kiss held; Shikamaru's shuddering breath was beginning to drive him crazy.

Thankful for Shikamaru's consent, Choji let his free hand wander, while the other held Shikamaru's hands above his head and out of the way; his free hand slid beneath Shikamaru's shirt, brushing his belly and traveling up towards his slightly erect nipple. As soon as Choji's fingertip brushed the sensitive skin, Shikamaru jerked forward, his eyes slamming completely shut, opposed to his occasional peek to check to see if Choji had closed his eyes (which the Nara had made a big deal out of, insisting that he wouldn't let Choji kiss him if he kept his eyes open, though Choji couldn't imagine why).

Undaunted, Choji teased the sensitive skin; his thumb and forefinger drawing small circles around it until it had grown hard and pert. Shikamaru squirmed under his touch, flinching.

"Are you okay?" Choji asked curiously, noticing the odd reaction from the Nara. Shikamaru peeled his eyes open and Choji regretted asking; there was pain in Shikamaru's eyes. Pain, begging Choji to stop though his mouth made no inclination that an opposition was going to tumble out. "I can stop if you want..."

A vibrant blush crossed Shikamaru's cheeks, catching like wild fire and burning across, which forced the Nara to look away. "I'm okay with this if you want it."

Sighing with a slight smile, Choji climbed off of Shikamaru, settling himself on the cement roof. "I guess I'm lucky to have you, Shika."

Shikamaru climbed into a sitting position and hugged at his knees to hide his violently red cheeks; he wondering silently if they could stain. But that was when it tumbled from his mouth, and Choji had to strain to hear his quiet voice. "I'm scared."

Realizing that this was the answer to the question he had been asking persistently only a few moments earlier, Choji pressed, "Scared about what?"

"That this is too good to be true."

Shikamaru's answer brought a stabbing pain to Choji's chest, though he wasn't exactly sure if it was heart burn, or something else. "It's not. I like having something special like this, and I won't back out if you don't want me to."

"I know...Thanks." Shikamaru murmured, though silently he added, 'I never said I was scared of you backing out...'

-x-

"You look happy and sad all at the same time."

Choji looked up from his equipment to see a sweat-glazed Sasuke standing in the doorway, his gaze neither challenging nor smug, merely observant. Attempting to play off what Sasuke had just said, Choji forced a smile and replied, "It's a little complicated." And to appease any doubts Sasuke may have had, he added a small sheepish laugh.

Sasuke, however, hadn't bought a single bit of what Choji had said, but didn't press on it. Instead, he erased the space between them, taking a seat on the bench Choji had been resting on. "So...I've been seeing you with that Shikamaru guy a lot."

What Sasuke had said dropped a bombshell on everything Choji had planned to say, and he searched desperately for an excuse; it had been an unspoken agreement between he and Shikamaru that there wouldn't be any talk of what they did on the roof; not to one another, not to anyone else. And Choji had just broken that unspoken agreement. So, in an attempt to sway the Uchiha, Choji retorted (with a cracking voice), "So?"

"You guys friends?"

Realizing that he'd gotten worked up over nothing, Choji relaxed, mentally breathing a sigh of relief because he knew if he were to do it outloud, Sasuke would become suspicious. "Yeah, I guess."

That all too familiar arrogant smile arrived on Sasuke's lips. "Do you hold hands with a lot of your friends?"

All at once, the panic returned, Choji realized that his hands had begun to shake, and soon enough, Sasuke had noticed it too, and was searching for an answer. "I mean, I don't care or anything if you guys are...y'know, seeing each other. That's your business, not mine. I was just wondering if he was the reason you're looking so weird today."

This time, Choji was allowed to sigh in relief; the last thing he wanted was to lose Sasuke as a friend because of something stupid like sexual orientation, and he was incredibly pleased that Sasuke was okay with it entirely. "Yeah, I guess I could blame it on him."

"Something wrong?"

Choji shrugged. "I guess you could say that... He's never, well, been with a guy before, and I noticed that he seems really scared of me sometimes, but then at other times it seems like he really wants this to happen, and even contributes when he gets over his embarrassment..."

Sasuke laughed quietly, amused. "That seems awfully normal to me." When Choji gave no inclination that he had any idea what Sasuke meant, the Uchiha continued. "He's going to be hesitant at first because he's only ever known being straight. Excuse my bad analogy, but, being gay can be like trying a new flavor of ice cream; you don't know if you want to try chocolate because you don't know if you'll like it, and you don't know if you like it at first when you actually do try it because you've only ever had vanilla." (2)

"That was the worst analogy I've ever heard." Choji laughed, though he was beginning to understand what Sasuke meant.

"Just trying to help." Sasuke shrugged, climbing to his feet. "But I hope everything works out with Shikamaru."

Moments later, a solemn blonde came padding into the locker room, looking rather troubled. As soon as he made his appearance, Sasuke was by his side, an arm wrapped around the blonde's shoulder in a casual gesture. Choji's eyes fell on the two, and he wasn't sure if what he was seeing was real; the question remained etched in his eyes.

When Sasuke noticed Choji staring, wanting to ask that deplorable question, the Uchiha chuckled, realizing at once what he wanted to know. "In my dreams, maybe."

Choji smiled sheepishly, feeling sorry for the guy; it seemed like they were both having love problems.

-x-

"Ah...Ch-Choji stop..." Shikamaru pleaded, his voice nearly a whisper, while both of his hands remained at his mouth, making sure that no sound passed his lips, though the occasional moan escaped. And though he was desperately begging Choji to stop, his hips were responding perfectly in time to Choji's hand which continued to pump at him, attempting to perfect Shikamaru's erection.

"Well, you got hard while we were kissing, so I'm obligated to help." Choji said evenly, his touch hands stroking Shikamaru's length for all it's worth, which was rewarded with some misplaced squeaks and moans. "And you would've just done it at home anyway."

"Yeah, but that's..." The Nara's voice was cut short with a low hiss, his knees bucking and his eyes squeezing shut.

Pleased with the reaction he was getting out of Shikamaru, Choji's rhythm grew faster, his calloused fingers running along the smaller boy's shaft. "Almost there?"

The only response was a strangled whimper, which was followed by Shikamaru throwing his head back and moaning.

All at once, Shikamaru's mewling begs stopped, and Choji's hand was covered in sticky white.

"S-Sorry." Shikamaru mumbled, mortified as he saw the full extent of his passion in liquid form, coating Choji's hand.

Choji smiled sheepishly at the Nara, laughing beneath his breath. "It's nothing to apologize for, Shika." But when he looked up, he saw that there were tears collected in Shikamaru's distant eyes that were beginning to fall without his notice. When the fourth or fifth drop slid down his chin, Shikamaru finally made a move to wipe them away, only for a dozens more to follow in suit. Alarmed, Choji cleaned off his hand and came to Shikamaru's side, touching his shoulder. The Nara threw the crook of his arm at his face, burying his nose into it as he sobbed uncontrollably with no explanation or reason.

And during the entire time, Choji held him, cooing soothing words accompanied by gentle caresses.

"Are you okay?"

Shikamaru smiled grimly, though his arm shielded the extent of his face, Choji could just barely see his face. "I'm so sorry, Choji..." Shikamaru mumbled through his cruel smile.

"It's okay, don't worry about it."

"...Are you...mad?"

"No, just nervous."

Shikamaru's eyes peeked out from the crook of his neck; the tears had ceased. "Why?"

"I'm scared I'm going to break you."

That afternoon, Shikamaru didn't watch the clock as he usually did. Instead, he remained in Choji's arms for what seemed like forever, watching the sunset until it was completely gone, and the streetlights were beginning to turn on.

Shikamaru wished it had lasted longer.

-x-

When the two finally exited the school building, Choji insisted on holding hands. It was dark, so there would be no one who would see them doing so, but Shikamaru still fidgeted. Choji held onto his hand for dear life, never once letting up when Shikamaru grew too bashful and tried to pull away whenever a car passed.

"Jesus Christ, Shikamaru!"

At the sound of his name, Shikamaru jumped, snagging his hand away from Choji in a desperate attempt that Choji allowed; loosening his grip so that Shikamaru could escape. Three seconds after Shikamaru had successfully reclaimed his hand, Naruto came to a panting halt before the two; hands on his knees. "Do you know how long we've been fucking looking for you?" The blonde asked between gasps for air.

Before Shikamaru could ask who the 'we' might've been, two males came trotting up to the small group, a frown on either of their faces. Shikamaru wasn't exactly sure who one of them was (though his immediate answer was a questioning murmur of, "Sasuke?" from Choji), but the other he recognized in an instant, and at the same time, realized that Asuma was incredibly angry with him.

"Where the hell have you been, dumbass?" Asuma barked, grabbing the cigarette from his mouth and crushing it violently in his fist; as soon as that hand dropped the cigarette, the same hand came rushing up to meet Shikamaru's shirt collar, locking him in a fierce glare with his teacher. "Your parents are livid! They were going to call the police, but decided to call me first, and you're fucking lucky they did; do you want 'attempted runaway' on your record?"

Shikamaru knew that the interrogation was all completely rhetorical, and that Asuma was simply venting his anger on his student to elaborate on how worried he had been, but Shikamaru was taking in every word.

"Naruto was worried too." Offered Sasuke, jabbing a thumb in Naruto's direction, but by the looks of it, Sasuke had also gotten worked up trying to find Naruto's companion, for his cheeks were rosy from running; probably while they were searching fruitlessly for him.

"Worried? Don't even get me started!" Naruto yelled, shoving his fingers through his hair in exasperation, though he obviously wasn't going to let Shikamaru off the hook. "You were so out of it today, fucking...I was scared you were going to do something stupid...Dammit, Shikamaru, don't fucking do this again!"

This, however, was as far as Shikamaru would take being screamed at; he didn't mind if they were concerned, but Naruto had taken it just a little too far. "Don't patronize me; you didn't have to get all worked up over nothing." The Nara growled; he felt Choji tense beside him but decided not to spare him a glance; he was too engaged in the yelling match.

"Worked up over nothing? Shikamaru you were missing! Your parents couldn't find you, Asuma couldn't find you, I couldn't find you! If your best friend fell off the face of the earth, how the fuck would you react!" Naruto hollered, his face growing increasingly flushed from the buildup of emotion and the continuous screaming.

"Not like this! And besides, I don't need someone to hold my hand all the time; I can take care of myself."

"You obviously can't if you can't even get yourself home after school! I mean, god dammit, if you would've asked I would've walked with you to your house or something, why the hell would you stay at school all afternoon?"

"That's none of your fucking business!" It was then that Naruto realized he'd struck a nerve; the very tone of Shikamaru's voice, the immediate retort rather than the small pause that Naruto knew Shikamaru was using to think up a substantial scathing reply; it had thrown up dozens of red flags. But Shikamaru hadn't finished; not by a long shot. "If I want to stay at school all afternoon then I will; I didn't ask you to worry about me so why are you flipping out over something so stupid? So what if I was out late? I've come home late before; why the hell should my parents worry now? And why should you even care?"

"Shikamaru, stop..." Choji urged, grabbing the Nara's forearm tightly to snap him out of the angry rage he had fallen into to, but Shikamaru tugged his arm away; ignoring Choji completely.

"I'll do what I want to do and with whoever I feel like doing it with." At this, Choji froze, his hand falling away from Shikamaru's arm; he now realized why Shikamaru was battling so angrily with his best friend and his favorite teacher; he wanted to protect the reason he had been staying out late in the first place; in other words, he didn't want them to know that he'd been with Choji the entire time, doing unspeakable things together. Shikamaru was ashamed...

Now it was Asuma's turn to be rational, now that he'd calmed down enough to lower his voice. "Shikamaru, are you doing drugs?"

"Fuck! Is that what all of this is about? You think I'm doing drugs? Well fine, I won't stop you; you can think I'm doing drugs all you want, I don't give a shit." Knowing that he was quickly losing this battle, Shikamaru took Choji by the wrist and pulled him away from the others. "C'mon Choji; I'll walk you home."

"Wait."

Shikamaru turned to glare at Sasuke, who had held his tongue throughout the entire argument; the young man didn't look as if he were going to yell, and Shikamaru guessed it was because they didn't know each other well enough to be too worried.

Without waiting for the complimentary, "WHAT?" that usually accompanied an angry youth such as Shikamaru at that moment, Sasuke met the Nara's glare and barked, "Are you that selfish?"

Shikamaru, again, wasn't given the chance to reply, because Sasuke wasn't giving him the smallest moment to respond.

"You're not the only one hurting in this situation, and you're just making it worse."

At first, Shikamaru glared out at Naruto and Asuma, assuming that Sasuke had meant them, but he was quickly corrected when Sasuke pointed towards Choji and continued. "Do you know how much Choji's been going through since you started all this? This entire time, you never once thought of him, did you?"

An icy feeling curled in Shikamaru's belly and he bit his lip; in all honesty, he hadn't. He had hurt the very person he was trying to protect. When he turned to look at Choji, he noticed that the Akimichi was frowning; a feature that rarely blemished his face, and knowing that he, Shikamaru, had been the one to put that frown upon his friend's face was unforgivable.

"...What are you talking about?" Naruto asked in alarm, peering to Sasuke, and very soon, Shikamaru, though neither answered his question nor spared him a glance.

"Sasuke, I told you it was nothing, why are you even bringing that up?" Choji protested quietly; he wasn't just going to stand there and allow Sasuke to humiliate Shikamaru anymore than he already had; if Shikamaru was ashamed of the relationship they shared, then Choji would step down for the Nara, but he wasn't going to ruin him just because of ill feelings.

"Choji. He's right." Shikamaru croaked, his thumb gently caressing Choji's wrist that he had yet to let go of.

"So are you just going to run away from this just because you're scared of other people's opinions? You're nothing like Naruto and Choji described you; you're just a whiney asshole who is too self-conscious to return someone's feelings." Sasuke scoffed, turning away from the two of them. "I don't even care, do whatever you want; just don't bring Naruto and Choji down with you."

"Shikamaru."

At the sound of his name, Shikamaru looked up to see Asuma frowning at him, though it wasn't nearly as serious as it had been moments earlier as he had been yelling, it was a disappointed frown, a frown that haunted Shikamaru.

"As far as I'm concerned, this conversation is over; I want you to walk your friend home, and immediately go to your house." It wasn't a question; Asuma was done listening to a bunch of children bickering like...well, children.

And Shikamaru obeyed, tugging Choji to follow him into the streets, leaving Asuma, Naruto, and Sasuke behind.

When they had gotten out of earshot, Choji was sure that Shikamaru would say something to assure him, something that would make Choji believe that Shikamaru was really okay, and that them being together was okay; that everything was okay and that episode back there had meant nothing.

But Shikamaru remained silent during the entire walk home, blindly holding Choji's hand; Choji could feel him trembling.

"Are you cold?" Choji asked to break the killing silence, watching Shikamaru respond slowly, as if he hadn't quite heard him right; the Nara nodded silently but continued to walk onward. "Do you want me to hold you?"

And the first word Shikamaru said since departing from the school was a flat, "No."

By the time they arrived at Choji's house, Shikamaru was trembling noticeably, though whether it was from the cold or from the stressful screaming match, Choji couldn't be sure.

"Are you going to be okay?" Choji asked as he stepped onto his porch, on which Shikamaru hadn't followed him, parking himself neatly near the fence as to make sure Choji had gotten into his house safely, but staying far enough away to yield any unwanted gestures from either of them.

Shikamaru nodded distantly, looking away as he did so.

"C'mere."

Shikamaru's eyes traveled to Choji, and noticed that the Akimichi was descending off of his porch, beckoning him closer. And in turn, Shikamaru unlatched the gate and entered.

They met half-way, and Shikamaru was nearly positive that Choji would grab him by the face and just kiss him, and everything would feel so much better, and he would be able to sleep tonight knowing that he hadn't completely ruined everything.

Choji looked the Nara up and down, and sure enough, his hands landed on either side of Shikamaru's shoulders, pulling him closer. Expectantly, Shikamaru closed his eyes, nervously awaiting those lips to descend on his and wipe away all the doubt that had built up, to erase all the pain his aching heart was experiencing.

But that moment never came. Choji's arms fell from his shoulders and instead found a place beneath Shikamaru's arms, and, upon doing so, brought the Nara into tight embrace. Shikamaru's heart sank.

"I'm sorry about everything, Shikamaru." Shikamaru's voice was lost in his throat, but his thoughts yelled, 'Don't be...'

"I know I made you do a lot of things you didn't want to do." 'I'd do anything for you...'

"So I'll leave you alone; if I'd known from the beginning that you disliked it, I would've left you alone." 'Please don't...'

"But please don't hate me for this; I really didn't mean to cause you so much trouble." 'You didn't cause me trouble, I really...'

"So I guess this is good-bye." 'Loved you...'

Without waiting for a response, Choji disappeared into his house, locking the door behind him.

----

1) Shika is Japanese for deer, if anyone didn't know, which is why he was said to be, 'living up to his name' when he looked startled. Work with me, people -_-

2) I totally made that up myself. I was going to say a coffee or something from Starbucks instead of ice cream, but I wasn't sure if people would understand what I meant if I said it like that x3

A/N: My very first ShikaCho; yay! Re-posted. I feel like it should've been longer :/ Oh well.


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